


Stained Glass

by Pippin



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Angels, Demons, Enemies to Friends, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-28
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-02 17:49:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8676994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pippin/pseuds/Pippin
Summary: The war between angels and demons was nothing new.  But when one demon is captured both sides finally get the chance to resolve the age old conflict between them.





	

_In the skies above humanity raged a war of epic proportions.  After years of being content with their lot in life, the demons were finally reaching out to try to take back what once had been theirs—a life above the earth, a place in the skies, a life outside of the fire and brimstone they had been condemned to.  After all, they reasoned, generations had passed since the Fall, since the mistake that had thrown their kind out of the skies.  They were hardly the same people who had cursed their species.  The angels, however, were not ready to give up their position as the sole reigning entity above the earth and fought back against the beings they had been taught to hate.  The war lasted and lasted, neither side willing to give up their ground.  Hundreds of members of both species were trained as warriors, trained to enter the battle once they were skilled enough and old enough._

_For years, nothing changed…_

* * *

Jack crossed his arms and surveyed the carnage strewn across the battlefield.  That day had been particularly bloody, soldiers falling left and right on both sides.  Now, however, the day of fighting had drawn to a close, the demons booking a hasty retreat when angelic reinforcements had arrived.  Those reinforcements had made Jack particularly cross—yes, the Aces were a great unit, but he didn’t need _Kent motherfucking Parson_ backing him up.  His unit had had things under control, damn it all.  Now Kent was going to claim the victory, probably use it to lure more bored and willing recruits into his bed.  Jack knew how Kent worked, had heard his boasts far too many times before.  He was an arrogant son of a bitch and Jack pretty much hated him.  Never mind that they had grown up together under the tutelage of Jack’s father; Kent was still an asshole.

Ransom, their unit’s healer, was going across the field looking for any angels who might have survived the day and their wounds.  No soldier got left behind if it could be avoided.  The war was far too dear and close to home for the angels to risk losing anyone.  Even if they were too badly injured to go back into the field of battle their experience would prove invaluable training the next generation of angelic warriors.

When Jack looked over to see how Ransom was doing, he saw him helping Holster get a grip on a tiny blond.  Jack didn’t recognize him, but that was hardly anything to worry about.  There were so many damn soldiers anymore that there were always many—most—that he didn’t know.

When Ransom and Holster returned, Ransom’s face was dark.  “None of ours out there are alive, Jack.”

That felt like a punch in the stomach, but Jack tried not to show how badly it affected him, keeping his face composed, stony.  “What’s this, then?” he asked, gesturing at the boy.

Holster’s face split into a grin.  “Demon.  Alive and left behind.  We get prisoners, of course, but those are spies who don’t know anything beyond their mission.  This one’s a soldier—he’s going to know things.  So I was thinking that we could see what he knows, what we can get out of him.”

“That’s not a bad plan,” Jack said, looking at the boy.  He wasn’t as small as Jack had originally thought—really, he was average sized but looked tiny against Holster’s massive form.  His hair was sunshine blond ( _small and blond; exactly your type_ , a voice in Jack’s head said and he squashed the thought ferociously) and just knowing that he was a demon made Jack’s skin crawl.  “Let’s get back before he wakes up.”

* * *

Dear lord, his head was pounding fit to burst.  Bitty gingerly reached to rub the sore spot but froze at shackles pulled at his wrists.  That wasn’t right.  The last thing he remembered was going into battle.  Clearly, he had been hit at some point if the pain was anything to go by, and now he had no idea where he was.  It was some kind of prison, but he couldn’t tell anything beyond that.

“Jack, he’s awake!” a cheery voice said and Bitty almost gave himself whiplash as he snapped his head around to see who had spoken. 

The speaker appeared to be the guard in front of the cell, a boy who was bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet.  It was too dark for Bitty to make out any features, but that was soon swept out of his mind as the door to the cell he was in opened and a man—Jack?—stepped in.  He was carrying a lantern and dear lord in heaven Bitty was in the company of angels.  He was _fucked_.

“I’ll let you know when I need let out,” the man said.  “Thank you.”

The guard nodded and stepped out of Bitty’s field of view, leaving him alone with the man who was now glaring at him.

Bitty raised his chin defiantly, glaring back.  He wasn’t going to let this angel scare him.  Well, he was already scared—he wasn’t going to let this angel see that he was scared. That was better.

“I’m assuming you know where you are,” the angel said and Bitty nodded.

“I’m in angel captivity.  Captured after a battle.”  It took everything in Bitty not to babble too much.  He knew that he had a tendency to run his mouth and knew that wouldn’t go over well with this angry angel.  “I’m assuming that you’re Jack?  At least, that’s the name the other angel called you.” 

The tightening of Jack’s jaw confirmed Bitty’s statement.  “Shut up,” he growled.  “This is my realm, not yours.  You are a prisoner of war who will be executed if you can’t provide us with adequate information about your kind and their plans.  Do you understand?”

Bitty didn’t reply and Jack’s face turned thunderous.  “I said, _do you understand, demon_?”

“I understand,” Bitty snapped.  “Demon doesn’t mean stupid, no matter what you might think.”

“Interrogation starts tomorrow,” was the only response Bitty got.  “You had best be ready to decide where your priorities lie.”

* * *

Jack had wanted little more than to reach forward and strangle the uppity little demon when he had snapped back.  Clearly, he didn’t understand the gravity of the situation, didn’t understand just how much his life was on the line.  Or he didn’t care and took far more pleasure in tormenting Jack than he did in his continued existence.  Either way, Jack was looking forward to starting with him tomorrow.

He wasn’t about to do any necessary torturing himself—he wasn’t allowed to, not after the snap that had nearly cost the lives of an entire unit.  That was okay, though, given that Tater was more than an adequate enforcer.  Bright and cheery outside of interrogation, Tater was absolutely terrifying when the situation called for it, using his size and strength to terrify captured demon spies into giving up what little they knew.  Something told Jack that he was going to need to bring out every trick he knew on top of Tater’s… _skills_ to break this demon.

The next morning couldn’t come soon enough.

* * *

It was bright and early the next morning when Jack went to collect his prisoner.  Chowder was on duty again—thankfully; the boy was a little cheery for Jack’s tastes, but he was their best guard who never let any little thing slip past him—and he waved to Jack before going to unlock the cell and handing over the keys to the demon’s shackles.

The demon apparently wasn’t a morning person.  He blinked groggily at Jack for a few confused moments before sitting bolt upright, yelping as the shackles pulled his arms back.

Keeping one hand firmly on the back of the demon’s neck, Jack unlocked his shackles with the other, then led the demon down the hall to interrogation.

The demon balked temporarily at seeing the room and the assortment of machines and tools used to extract information, but then shook his head, the look of defiance returning to his face. 

Jack shoved him deeper into the room, using his size as leverage to get the demon where he wanted him to be.  Once the demon was strapped down into a chair, eyes locked on Jack’s with no trace of fear present within them, Jack beckoned Tater forward.

“Let’s begin.”

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from Frank Ticheli. I said that I wanted to find words to explain how Angels in the Architecture sounds, and then I remembered I played a sort of version of AitA in high school that we called Stained Glass, hence the title.
> 
> I love Kent Parson. But Jack doesn't. I'll get into that backstory later on.
> 
> Also, shoutout to my wonderful group chat for letting me bounce ideas off them. You guys are the best.


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